OSCE MISSION'S DEPUTY HEAD MEETS ETHNIC MINORITIES' REPRESENTATIVES IN ZADAR

ZADAR, March 9 (Hina) - The deputy head of the OSCE Mission to Croatia, Robert Becker, on Tuesday evening held a closed-door working meeting with representatives of ethnic minorities in Zadar County to discuss problems they were encountering after recent elections for minority councils and representatives in local authorities.#L# Representatives of ethnic Serbs, Albanians, and Bosniaks warned about the poor cooperation with local authorities in the city of Zadar and the towns of Benkovac, Obrovac and other towns and municipalities in Zadar County. After the meeting, Ambassador Becker said he had held similar meetings in the eastern cities of Vukovar and Osijek. As regards the relationship between local authorities and ethnic minorities in Zadar, the situation is frustrating and disappointing in comparison with the situation in Vukovar and Osijek, said the representative of the OSCE Mission. Becker said this referring to the non-participation of minority representatives in the work of town councils in most places in Zadar County, although under the law on ethnic minorities they have that right. He went on to say that in democracies citizens should take part in the functioning of local authorities and self-government bodies. There are many practical issues which should be settled, Becker said adding he would inform local authorities of them. He said he did not want to blame anybody for relations between the minorities and the authorities, but both sides should invest more efforts to identify problems and solve them. (Hina) ms